Education: end-of-life research

Does Hospice Improve Quality of Care for Persons Dying from Dementia?

From the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society Download the Article
Volume 59, Issue 8, pages 1531-1536, August 2011
Joan M. Teno MD, MS1, Pedro L. Gozalo PhD1, Ian C. Lee1, Sylvia Kuo PhD1, Carol Spence PhD2, Stephen R. Connor PhD3, David J. Casarett MD, MA4

"People whose loved ones received hospice care reported an improved quality of care, and had a perception that the quality of dying was improved as well," said Dr. Joan Teno. "This is one of just a few studies out there that has examined dying with dementia where the predominant site of care is a nursing home and can report the benefits of hospice services. As just one example, for nursing home patients not in hospice, one in five family members reported an unmet need for shortness of breath while that was only 6.1 percent for people in hospice."

The researchers' conclusion: Bereaved family members of people with dementia who received hospice reported higher perceptions of the quality of care and quality of dying.